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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
12 August 2016
Updated: 07 December 2020
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Today is World Elephant Day, so I’m taking the opportunity to talk about the elephant in the room - the exclusiveness in our sector.
It’s almost two years since an analysis of the top 50 fundraising charities revealed that 88% of Chief Executives were white, and 70% male. In senior management roles 94% were white, and 56% male. This is a sharp contrast to the society that we all live in and yet not much seems to have changed. So, why all the white guys?
As part of my Clore Social Leadership journey, I am currently working with in Washington D.C. I’ll be here for six weeks and as I’m learning so much here, I explored with the organisation what I might feasibly do for them in such a short time. What are their priorities? I was delighted to hear the response of: ‘We’d like to be an even more welcoming and inclusive organisation’. Given my passion for leaders making decisions with, and not for the communities that we serve, I’m excited to see what I can do.
In exploring this important issue, I can’t ignore a social and political context to discussing diversity in our world today. Racial tensions in the U.S. are high as a result of disproportionate shootings of African American men killed by the police. Recent shootings of police officers have been called ‘revenge attacks’, and organisations such as are accused of race-baiting. Worldwide, we are hearing increased political rhetoric that risks inciting or spreading fear and can contribute to a feeling of different=DANGEROUS. I’m fortunate in Defender’s that the organisation understands the power of diversity, and have identified increasing diversity as a priority, so I don’t need to have the conversation here. But we absolutely need to be having the conversation in our sector.
In this context I ask myself, how do we have a conversation about diversity and inclusion that can create the change without making the white men feel excluded, or even threatened? (Then there’s a whole internal dialogue that argues ‘who cares if they’re threatened, they need to get over it’, but I’m not sure if that will affect the change we need).
Maybe we could start by making ‘diversity’ more inclusive?
Often our sector can see diversity as an HR issue, or we create tick-boxes to monitor how we’re doing. More progressive thinking recognises that diversity goes beyond race, gender, religion, age etc. It recongnises that I’m diverse in the speed in which I learn, as well my sexual identity. Diversity goes beyond the visible. As a sector, we should lead the way in celebrating all diversity. As a priority this must include recognising individual differences that cause disadvantage, such as the people’s race or religion, and making real and determined efforts to mitigate the impact of those differences in our employment practices.
I know that we need the best minds to solve the big challenges that face our sector today, and the more diverse those minds the better. I know that a diverse workforce can help to redress our unconscious bias, and give us the best chance to connect with and understand the communities that we serve. I strive to create an inclusive environment but I look at the teams that I’ve been responsible for recruiting and I know that we don’t represent Scotland’s vibrancy, and diversity. The question I really need to be asking myself is ‘why?’, and I invite you to do the same.
Tags:
chairs
challenges
change
charitysector
culture
diversity
inclusion
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
01 August 2016
Updated: 07 December 2020
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John Williams is Vice Chair at the Association of Chairs.
It’s been a tough 12 months for Chairs and trustees. The charity sector has faced unprecedented challenge and criticism, and much of it has focused on apparent failings in governance and leadership. Chairs especially are under pressure to ensure their boards are responsible and effective, while continuing to deliver the maximum impact for their beneficiaries.
The Association of Chairs (AoC) was set up three years ago to support charity and other non-profit Chairs, and to champion good governance and leadership in the sector. Chairs tell us they find their role rewarding, but a surprising number say that they find it more lonely, demanding and complex than they expected. Even those with the most stellar CVs and broad skills and experience can find themselves outside their comfort zone.
Yet it is clear to us that there is neither a consistent nor sufficient level of support offered to Chairs, and this has been starkly confirmed by our recent survey.
Using our substantial database, we researched 360 respondents in a chairing role, including 140 AoC members. We found high levels of commitment to the role - 54% of Chairs spend four days or more per month on their chairing role - but there are significant gaps in support.
Overall 46% of boards have no budget for board development; only 19% had a formal allocated budget, with the remainder addressing development on a case by case basis. Perhaps more surprisingly is that only 34% of Chairs had an induction, arguably the most basic form of support.
The main support Chairs received was access to publications, conferences and events, and administrative support. Apart from publications, fewer than 50% had accessed any kind of development support in the last 12 months, with many restricting themselves to free sources of support.
It’s clear that there is too little financial and practical support given to Chairs for induction, training and personal development. A host of commentators and reports have argued that we need to raise the bar on charity governance. This is not optional - good leadership is critical to ensure charities achieve the social impact they seek. Both our experience and this research suggests that the appetite to learn and develop is there, but we need to find new and imaginative ways to step up that support. We will all benefit from this.
You can download more information regarding the survey results on the Association’s website.
We welcome your comments in response to this article which you can submit beneath this article, or contact John via Twitter.
Tags:
chairs
challenges
change
criticism
skills
trustees
value
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Posted By Clore Social Leadership,
18 April 2016
Updated: 07 December 2020
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Blog by Prue Skene, Leadership in Governance facilitator and Clore Leadership Programme Governance Associate.
I’ve led on board development for the Clore Leadership Programme for the cultural sector for some eight years now, and during that time have worked with dozens of arts boards. I’m now about to take some of that expertise and experience into the social sector, swapping from cultural to social leadership and devising a Clore Social Leadership workshop for Chairs and CEOsattending as pairs.
The first big question I have to ask myself when preparing for this is: What’s the difference between the two sectors as far as governance is concerned? And the answer seems to be very little. While Boards of artistic organisations often need coaxing to understand their role in artistic programming and risk, in the social sector they need to have great clarity about their beneficiaries and their causes. People might think that there’s more glamour about having access to first nights and private views but I’ve met very few Board members who put priority on such things. All Trustees need to leave vainglory at the door! I think fortunately for this country there are still a great number of souls who genuinely want to give something back and feel that joining a charitable Board helps them accomplish this.
The cultural world hasn’t had a Kids Company (yet!) but nonetheless that disaster raised the pressure on all charitable Boards. The need to be strategic and not operational, the responsibility each Trustee has for the financial health of an organisation and the understanding of the relationship between Chair and CEO applies throughout all of the charity sector.
There is much literature on and many weblinks to the roles and responsibilities of being a charitable Trustee. What is more difficult to find is how the relationships work: Chair/CEO, Board/executive staff, Board/membership or beneficiaries. How is trust formed? How do a disparate group of people who perhaps meet formally only four times a year arrive at strategic decisions for the future growth and wellbeing of their organisation? In any increasingly complex world, how are ethics, diversity and sustainability delivered while ensuring that the objectives of the charity are always adhered to?
None of these pertinent areas belong to any one sector. They all need addressing, not through a textbook but through discussion, understanding and good induction with some case studies of bad examples to give warning and some of good examples to encourage. That is what I hope my workshop will deliver, together with the hot topic of the role of the Board in fundraising and other practical advice. What all Boards in the charitable sector need to know is how to lead and support, while challenging where necessary. It’s an art in itself.
If you are interested in further understanding the role of your CEO or Chair and developing your skills in governance best practice, including risk management, income generation and the diversity of a Board, then you may want to consider attending our Leadership in Governance workshop on 21 May 2016 with your Chair or CEO. Call 020 7812 3770 to book.
Tags:
arts
challenges
change
culture
governance
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